Chapter 5

Primary occupation

Exercises

1. Choose the correct answer to all of the following options.

(i) Which of the following is a planting crop:-

a) Coffee, b) Corn

c) Wheat, d) Rubber.

Answer: a) Coffee 

(ii) Which of the following countries has experienced success in cooperative farming:-

a) Russia, b) Denmark,

c) India, d) Netherlands.

Answer:   b) Denmark

(iii) Flower production is called:-

a) truck farming or agriculture, b) factory agriculture,

c) Mixed farming, d) Floriculture.

Answer:  d) Floriculture

(iv) Which of the following types of agriculture was developed by the European colonialists:-

a) Coal, b) Viticulture,

b) Mixed farming, d) Plantation farming.

Answer:

(v) In which of the following areas, extensive commercial crop cultivation is not practiced:-

a) Canadian prairies, b) European steppes,

c) Argentina Pompas, d) Amazon Basin.

Answer:  d) Amazon basin.

(vi) Which of the following types of agriculture requires the cultivation of citrus fruits most:-

a) Market oriented horticulture, b) Plantation agriculture,

c) Mediterranean agriculture, d) cooperative agriculture.

Answer:

( vii) Which of the following groups is also called agricultural-slash-and-burn agriculture:-

a) Extensive subsistence agriculture, b) Primitive subsistence agriculture

c) Extensive commercial crop farming, d) Mixed farming.

Answer: b) Primitive subsistence agriculture 


(viii) Which of the following does not follow a culture ?

a) Dairy, b) Mixed farming,

c) Plantation agriculture, d) Cultivation of commercial crops.

Answer:    b) Mixed farming

 

2. Write the answers to the following questions in about 30 words.


(i) the future of shifting agriculture is bleak; discuss.

Answer: Shifting farming is done using very small and old implements like sticks and shovels. In this cultivation, the farmer chooses a plot of land and cleans it by setting fire to it. After a few years, the farmers leave the area and cultivate another plot of land. Loss of soil fertility is a major problem of shifting agriculture. Therefore, the cycle of this cultivation is gradually decreasing.

(ii) Market-oriented garden cultivation, practiced around municipal areas. Why is that?

Answer: Such farms are small in size and located in urban areas with good transportation and communication with high income consumers. Therefore,  market oriented garden shade farming is practiced around municipal areas.

(iii) Dairy farming can be carried out on a larger scale thanks to the development of transportation and refrigeration.

Answer: These farms require hard labor in rearing and milking the animals and employ a large number of labourers. There is nothing like having a separate season for crop cultivation during the year. Dairy farming is mainly practiced near municipal settlements and centers to supply fresh milk and other dairy products to nearby markets. 

3. Answer the following questions in no more than 150 words.


(i) Write about the difference between nomadic grazing and commercial livestock farming.

Answer: The differences between nomadic grazing and commercial livestock farming are - 

    i) Commercial livestock farming involves the rearing of one species of animals. There are many species of animals raised in nomadic livestock farming. ii)  Nomadic pastoralists have to depend on animals for their food and clothing. Commercial livestock farmers, on the other hand, are associated with Western culture.     iii)  Commercial animal husbandry is a scientific method of occupation. Various measures are taken to keep the livestock healthy. On the other hand, no measures are taken in the rearing of nomadic livestock.
    

    iv) In nomadic livestock farming, livestock farmers migrate seasonally from one place to another from time to time for livestock feed. Commercial livestock farming is a permanent occupation with no seasonal migration.

    v) Commercial livestock is a  capital investing system. Nomadic animal husbandry is a primitive practice.

(ii) Discuss the nature of plantation agriculture, with essential characteristics, name some of the essential plantation crops in different countries.

Answer: During the European colonization of the tropics, the above types of plantation agriculture were tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton, palm trees, maize, bananas and pineapple respectively.

    Large agricultural or plantation areas, large capital investment, management and technical assistance, scientific methods, abundance of crops, cheap labor and export of produce, good transportation between farms, factories and markets is the main characteristic of this agriculture. During the French colonization, coke and coffee were planted in West Africa. The British introduced tea plantations in India and Sri Lanka, rubber plantations in Malaysia and maize and banana cultivation in the West Indies. The Spanish, and Americans invested heavily in coconut and maize plantation agriculture in the Philippines. The Dutch, once in Indonesia, had been a monopoly in maize cultivation. Even now, the Europeans are making some Brazilian coffee fagendas.

schemes/ activities

Visit a nearby village and observe the fields of some crops grown there and make a list of various activities.